Need pointers for UPS purchase

M

Moosh

Gawd
Joined
Dec 10, 2000
Messages
802
Hello all,

I read the sticky and it has some good information but I was wondering if someone has an article that compares some of the brands of UPS. I am looking to purchase a UPS for my desktop gaming system. I lost power like 3-5 times this week (storms) for a couple of seconds, long enough to shut off my computer but it comes right back on. I need a UPS that can handle my power usage while gaming if I lose power briefly. I'm looking to spend $100-$150 on a decent one. I've seen that a lot of people like Cyberpower. Any useful links to reviews or recommendations would be appreciated.

My system is AMD 8350, Radeon R9 280X and a Dell 24" monitor. I think it might use about 300-500 watts during gaming if you include monitor and peripherals.

Thanks in advance.
 
Got my Cyberpower from costco.

the battery will die eventually after a couple of years. If your battery is going bad just replace it with a new one from amazon.

5-10 mins is good/long enough to shutdown your PC and wait out the storm.
 
General rule for me is if you run 500w, aim for 1000w unit. That'll give you plenty of time to save the game and shut down the system.

Go with the CP1500PFCLCD. It's higher than your budget but it'll handle those future upgrades too.
 
I made this decision about a year ago and was one of the best investments, I researched heavily between the different brands and ended up going with APC.

This is my current unit.

I actually have two systems and haven't had any issues at all with the system. Also can purchase an extended battery to plug into it.

Also one thing to know is most consumer UPS's have very low surge protection.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Thanks that APC looks nice but it looks risky for Active PFC. Looks like some of the reviewers have had success with it on newer PCs though. I think I will stick with the CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD instead of the bigger ones because this one has one battery instead of two (cheaper maintenance). I just need enough run-time to keep me in a game if there is a quick black out and enough time to shutdown during a long outage. Thanks all.
 
APC BackUPS is garbage and that Cyberpower is low end meh-ness. Buy a refurbished, quality unit.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-1000W-...erruptible_Power_Supplies&hash=item233c3573ae (edit: whoops this is a 240v model but they have 120v ones)

Add batteries and the price should be about the same... Though it has some fan noise. Not too bad but if you're one of those "I refuse to hear ANY NOISE AT ALL" whiners then I guess avoid this in favor of the low-end stuff.
 
Last edited:
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
dandragonrage said:
APC BackUPS is garbage and that Cyberpower is low end meh-ness. Buy a refurbished, quality unit.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-1000W-...erruptible_Power_Supplies&hash=item233c3573ae

Add batteries and the price should be about the same... Though it has some fan noise. Not too bad but if you're one of those "I refuse to hear ANY NOISE AT ALL" whiners then I guess avoid this in favor of the low-end stuff.
Click to expand...

Lol, buy a dell apc 240v bbu with a square wave output that wont work on 80+.....

Thats funny
 
Last edited:
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
bds1904 said:
Lol, buy a dell apc 240v bbu with a square wave output that wont work on 80+.....

Thats funny
Click to expand...

sorry, didn't notice it was 240v. Odd. But still... Dell 1000w. Just find a correct listing for a 120v model.

Made by Eaton and double conversion, though, so I don't know what the hell you're talking about. You're a lot more incorrect on that than I was. These things are MUCH better than the garbage listed previously in this thread.
 
bds1904 said:
Lol, buy a eaton 240v bbu with a per specs "sine wave" (not pure-sine, which means modified sign wave, which is a form of square wave) output that wont work on 80+ PSU's.....

Thats funny
Click to expand...

Fixed it for you dandragonrage (AKA mr technical)
 
The first link is the manual, it specifies that the output is "sine wave". UPS companies use this term to dance around the fact that they are using a modified sine wave output. Just because it a good modified (stepped multiple times) sine wave doesn't mean that it will be compatable with all or even most of today's active pfc power supplies. If it doesn't say pure-sine, it isnt. Period.

In the second link the eaton tech is also dancing around the term "sine wave" and being sure not to mention "pure sine wave". He even goes as far as saying "similar to your utility power" instead of saying "the electronics in the ups reproduce a pure sine wave output of 60hz for maximum compatability with todays high efficiency power supplies". Sounds like a really good salesman to me.

The 3rd link is just a stupid dell tech, everyone knows that most of them will tell you anything.

Moral of the story, buy pure-sign wave.
 
bds1904 said:
The first link is the manual, it specifies that the output is "sine wave". UPS companies use this term to dance around the fact that they are using a modified sine wave output. Just because it a good modified (stepped multiple times) sine wave doesn't mean that it will be compatable with all or even most of today's active pfc power supplies. If it doesn't say pure-sine, it isnt. Period.

In the second link the eaton tech is also dancing around the term "sine wave" and being sure not to mention "pure sine wave". He even goes as far as saying "similar to your utility power" instead of saying "the electronics in the ups reproduce a pure sine wave output of 60hz for maximum compatability with todays high efficiency power supplies". Sounds like a really good salesman to me.

The 3rd link is just a stupid dell tech, everyone knows that most of them will tell you anything.

Moral of the story, buy pure-sign wave.
Click to expand...

I have a CyberPower 1000VA unit that uses a multi-stepped sine wave output and haven't any trouble with the latest revision of the Seasonic X850W Gold unit I have..The PSU is Active PFC as well...If it is good enough for my cousin (PE with a Master's in EE from VirginaTech) to run on his firm's workstations, it's good enough for meeeeeeeeeee!
 
Moosh said:
Hello all,

I read the sticky and it has some good information but I was wondering if someone has an article that compares some of the brands of UPS. I am looking to purchase a UPS for my desktop gaming system. I lost power like 3-5 times this week (storms) for a couple of seconds, long enough to shut off my computer but it comes right back on. I need a UPS that can handle my power usage while gaming if I lose power briefly. I'm looking to spend $100-$150 on a decent one. I've seen that a lot of people like Cyberpower. Any useful links to reviews or recommendations would be appreciated.

My system is AMD 8350, Radeon R9 280X and a Dell 24" monitor. I think it might use about 300-500 watts during gaming if you include monitor and peripherals.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I've tried 3 tiers of products from APC over the last year and all have worked great.

We have a handful of these at work which are line-interactive units. I frequently load them down with 600+ watts (lots of systems on the bench) and it has no issues. I really like having the display on the front so I can watch my voltage/wattage on the fly without installing any software.

I put one of these on my HTPC at home and it has worked great, albeit complete overkill at 750va. Again this a line-interactive unit.

Lastly, I bought one of these units because it was the most reasonably priced pure-sine-wave/online UPS I could find. It's just a slight step down from the SMT series, which are also pure-sine-wave UPS's. (Tripp-Lite had a challenger. However, the reviews warned of a horrible chemical odor)

Generally speaking, I've read numerous times that line-interactive UPS units are not supposed to work that great with active-pfc power supplies. However, I've had no issues what so ever pairing line-interactive units with modern active-pfc systems.

If you want undoubtable compatibility with your system, you're gonna have to shop for pure-sine-wave UPS's. I'd personally advise you that Cyber Power is cheap for a reason. Not that APC is perfect. But, I've read too many stories about Cyber Power. Also, Tripp Lite is a well known brand that is well established in commercial environments However, their consumer lineup isn't as strong as APC's.

Just something to keep in mind. A UPS's real value is in saving your equipment from being exposed to all the spikes/surges/slumps that happen on any given AC line. Like when your fridge/freezer/A/C unit kicks on an the lights give a quick flicker. Your UPS is really helping you there.

As far as riding through an outage, any PSU in your budget will give you a few minutes to finish what you're doing and shut down. Considering most outages are just flickers or less than a couple of minutes, this shouldn't be a problem.

Keep in mind, you can always scout craigslist/ebay for an older higher-quality UPS. Just be sure to buy one you know will work and expect to need to replace the battery in it. Batteries are relatively cheap, compared to buying a brand new USP.
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I use one APC Backups 1300va on my systems, runs my main rig, htpc, 3 monitors, speakers, modem, router, switch, as well as my xbox 360.
I've been pleased with APC since they gave me 2 free UPS's over the years. I didn't even buy the first one, it was given to me since it failed and APC gave me replacement.
 
Rock&Roll said:
I've tried 3 tiers of products from APC over the last year and all have worked great.

We have a handful of these at work which are line-interactive units. I frequently load them down with 600+ watts (lots of systems on the bench) and it has no issues. I really like having the display on the front so I can watch my voltage/wattage on the fly without installing any software.

I put one of these on my HTPC at home and it has worked great, albeit complete overkill at 750va. Again this a line-interactive unit.

Lastly, I bought one of these units because it was the most reasonably priced pure-sine-wave/online UPS I could find. It's just a slight step down from the SMT series, which are also pure-sine-wave UPS's. (Tripp-Lite had a challenger. However, the reviews warned of a horrible chemical odor)

Generally speaking, I've read numerous times that line-interactive UPS units are not supposed to work that great with active-pfc power supplies. However, I've had no issues what so ever pairing line-interactive units with modern active-pfc systems.

If you want undoubtable compatibility with your system, you're gonna have to shop for pure-sine-wave UPS's. I'd personally advise you that Cyber Power is cheap for a reason. Not that APC is perfect. But, I've read too many stories about Cyber Power. Also, Tripp Lite is a well known brand that is well established in commercial environments However, their consumer lineup isn't as strong as APC's.

Just something to keep in mind. A UPS's real value is in saving your equipment from being exposed to all the spikes/surges/slumps that happen on any given AC line. Like when your fridge/freezer/A/C unit kicks on an the lights give a quick flicker. Your UPS is really helping you there.

As far as riding through an outage, any PSU in your budget will give you a few minutes to finish what you're doing and shut down. Considering most outages are just flickers or less than a couple of minutes, this shouldn't be a problem.

Keep in mind, you can always scout craigslist/ebay for an older higher-quality UPS. Just be sure to buy one you know will work and expect to need to replace the battery in it. Batteries are relatively cheap, compared to buying a brand new USP.
Click to expand...

While I wouldn't use them in mission critical stuff, some of CyberPower units are perfect for home use. My main gaming/folding/HTPC (all in one) rig can draw close to ~650W at full load (system in sig with my 290 HEAVILY O/C'd and pump+fans)..I have had several brownouts (I live right on the coast in the Mid Atlantic) and it has done a wonderful job..Granted the unit I have also has a line conditioner for low voltage etc I have been very happy with it.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I'm on my 3rd apc br1500g in 4 months. Apc has been fantastic but the first unit failed a self test after a storm and the second unit arrived with a cracked housing and failed on its first brownout. 3rd unit is different somehow. It's working fine.
 
I have a nice APC at work for my desktop. I'm not sure what model it is but it has a screen on it.
I have used an APC power strip type UPS for my server for like 8 years. I have replaced the battery only once and its been great.

I ended up buying the Cyberpower. Its hooked up right now and looks pretty good. Hopefully it works well when it counts. Thanks for all of your advice.
 
Rock&Roll said:
Just something to keep in mind. A UPS's real value is in saving your equipment from being exposed to all the spikes/surges/slumps that happen on any given AC line. Like when your fridge/freezer/A/C unit kicks on an the lights give a quick flicker. Your UPS is really helping you there. .
Click to expand...

I was searching for a UPS for exactly what you mention: Best protection from spikes/surges/slumps.
I have contacted Cyberpower, and for this purpose, they proposed me to buy an "Online UPS" instead of the "Line Interactive UPS"
This was my question:
Hello.
I want you to reccomend me the best from the following UPS, according protection from electrical spikes and other possible electrical anomalies.
1) http://eu.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups_systems/pfc-sinewave/cp1300epfclcd.htm
2) http://eu.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups_systems/intelligent/cp1350eavrlcd.htm
3) http://eu.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups_systems/pr/pr1500elcd.htm
4) http://eu.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups_systems/ols/ols1000exl.htm
Also, can you rank these 4 UPS, with the same criteria, from 1 to 4, which one provides the best protection from electrical anomalies? (1 - the best protection- to 4 -worst protection- ) Thank you.
Click to expand...

And this was their answer:
Dear Sir,

I hope you are fine and happy and many thanks for your email inquiry.
I will have to say that in principle online UPS systems provide the best possible power regulation as they can achieve a constant power output.
As such, the OLS1000E is the #1 choice using the critecria you mentioned. By the way, there is no XL model stocked in Europe.
However, there are drawbacks in comparison to the Line Interactive technologies that the other UPS systems you selected are based... For example, higher power consumtion and higher noise level as fans run continously.
Second choice (or first depending on how you look at it), is the PR1500ELCD. This is a GREAT system with low power consumption (less than 10W), great business features, ergonomics, easy battery service, low noise level (fans work only in some cases), etc. However this is Line Interactive technology, meaning at least a +/-5% variance in power regulation. Filtering is great on all models. An alternative to this model with the best price/performance is the PR1000ELCD. A great choice!
Third comes the CP1300EPFCLCD. A nice SOHO system with USB chargers, pure sinewave output, low power consumption (less that 5W), very low noise, but +/-7% on power output regulation as variance. Also can not buck the high currents.
Last is the CP1350... Similar to the CP1300EPFCLCD, but simulated sinewave output, and no USB chargers. This model actually is no longer stocked in Europe.
Again many thanks for your inquiry and always at your service.
Very Kind Regards,
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top